1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer capacitor including a plurality of capacitor sections and to a usage method for this multilayer capacitor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ceramics having a high dielectric constant have piezoelectricity and electrostriction. Accordingly, in a multilayer capacitor using ceramics having a high dielectric constant, vibration occurs due to a mechanical distortion if a direct current (DC) voltage on which an alternating current (AC) voltage or an AC component is superposed is applied to the multilayer capacitor. If this vibration is transmitted to a circuit board, the circuit board vibrates, which may cause noise called “acoustic noise”. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-258278 discloses a structure in which the occurrence of acoustic noise can be reduced. In the multilayer capacitor disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-258278, within a multilayer body, first and second capacitor sections are disposed adjacent to each other in the stacking direction of the multilayer body. In the first capacitor section, first and third inner electrodes are stacked on each other with a dielectric layer therebetween. In the second capacitor section, second and third inner electrodes are stacked on each other with the dielectric layer therebetween. By driving the first and second capacitor sections in the opposite phases, the expansion and contraction in the first capacitor section and that in the second capacitor section cancel each other out.
However, even by the use of the multilayer capacitor disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-258278, noise still occurs from time to time.